The Burden They Carry
by emmelinelionhardt
Summary: Drawn to each other by the pain they share. POVs will rotate between F!Courier, OC, and all FNV characters when F!Courier comes across them. The story will cover F:NV all quests, locations and DLCs on a nonlinear timeline. Boone x OC, then eventually, Boone x F!Courier. Rated M for later super descriptive, smutty chapters.


**A/N:** I don't own anything from Fallout New Vegas or the DLCs in the Ultimate Edition. All copyrights belong to Bethesda and Obsidian and whoever else. The only characters I lay claim to are the OCs introduced and my version of the F!Courier. Enjoy! My first ever, so this is going to be target practice. R&amp;R, if y'all would be so kind. 3

_She just wanted to take away the fear in his eyes. "It's okay. Don't you worry, I love—" the bullet stopped the person beside her from finishing his sentence. She screamed and lunged herself at the men standing above her. She growled and snarled as the man in the checkered suit smiled at her as he aimed the gun at her forehead. "Nighty night, doll face." _

"DYLAN!" She wakes up screaming, trying to gather her bearings. An elderly man comes into her line of vision. He holds her hand and tells her to calm down when she starts to hyperventilate.

"Can you tell me your name?"  
"Where's Dylan? WHERE IS DYLAN?!" she manages to gasp out as she grips the scarf wrapped around the old man's neck.

The old man gestures her to look behind her when he pulls back the curtain to show a sleeping little boy. Her heart lurches as she sees her little brother, laying so innocently, with stitches etching the center of his forehead. _The man in the checkered suit._

"Sorry," she apologizes when she loosens her grip on him, "Is he okay?"  
"Both you and your brother took a shot to the head. I don't quite rightly know what you two kids have been up to, but you sure are lucky. As for your brother, I've managed to stabilize with what I have on hand, but rest a couple of days; he should be awake by then."  
"Thanks, Mr. ?"  
"People here call me Doc Mitchell."

He uses his forearms to hold her up by putting them under her armpits, and slowly helps her walk around his home. She pushes to get her feet moving to take steps wincing when needles shoots up her legs. She turns quickly towards Dylan to see him slightly stir in what she hopes is his sleep.

"Doc Mitchell, what can you tell me about the men who shot me?"  
"I don't know, but perhaps you can ask Victor. He's the one who dug you out."  
"Who's Victor?"  
"Just this securitron who has been living here in Goodsprings a long while. Also, try seeing Sunny Smiles to see if she could get you some supplies to get you on your way."  
"Thanks, Doc."

The doctor does a few more tests just to see if she reacted or understood the concepts. She walks over and places a kiss on Dylan's cheek. "I'll be right back, hun."

When she opened the door, the sun's bright rays blinds her for a moment that she has to take a step back. The Mojave is not very kind to the people that lives in it, but it does yearn for some drops from the sky. Kiera struggles to muster her way towards the saloon, tripping on the steps leading towards the door. She notices there's someone sitting in the rocker beside her; the man pulls the rim of his hat towards her and she smiles out of embarrassment. Inside, she almost falls over a dog who stands cautiously in front of her.

"Cheyenne doesn't bite if you're nice." Welcome to Goodsprings, I'm Sunny."  
"Thanks, my name's Kiera."  
"I heard about you and the other boy," Sunny begins, "My brother," Kiera finishes.  
"Anyway, I'm wondering if there's any work in town."  
"There's nothing, but geckos out here. If you want to help me take them down, it'd be much appreciated."

After hunting geckos, Kiera and Sunny return to see Trudy arguing with a man named Joe Cobb. The moment Cobb tries to jab his finger at Trudy, Kiera steps right in front of Cobb, grabs and bends finger behind his back and locks him in place. Cobb struggles to get loose, but the more he struggles, the more Kiera tightens her hold. Everyone in the saloon stares at Kiera with curiosity and surprise.

"Do you know who I am? I'm a Powder Ganger and I'll kill you and have my boys kill the town." Kiera ignores the statement and bends his arm back even further.

"You fuckin' bitch. We'll blow your ass up with dynamite." She continues to ignore his comments, and blows out a sigh. She again bends his arm all the way until she pops his right shoulder out. He lets out a scream and growls under his breath. She kicks the back of his knees, and as he falls to his knees; she pulls out a stool at the bar and sits down with another sigh.

"Now, how about you skimp your fucking ass out of this establishment and out of this town for that matter?"

Kiera lets Cobb go and he jumps up quick using his left hand to hold his right shoulder. She winks at him as he swears up and down and leaves. She turns to greet Trudy at Sunny's request from earlier.

"Who exactly are you, hun?"  
"Just a courier."  
Trudy lets out a small laugh. "I've seen my fair share of couriers and they sure as hell do not do what you just did."  
"Let's just say," Kiera starts out, "that I learned how to protect myself through my journey as a Courier." She gives a small smile to Trudy. "So tell me, why are those men in Goodsprings? They sure don't look like residents."  
"They're Powder Gangers, started up I guess after breaking out of NCRCF. They are here to snuff out the witness of the caravan they ransacked, a young man named Ringo. He's at the abandoned gas station that's next Doc Mitchell's home to the right."

As she stepped into the gas station, Kiera could feel a gun aimed close to her neck.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"  
"I'm not an enemy, if that's what you're asking."  
"Oh, sorry about that. Can never be too careful."  
"I'm here to help you with the Powder Ganger situation."  
"Thanks, but I think we're going to need more help. Try asking Sunny Smiles."

When Kiera walks into the saloon, Sunny comes up and interjects, "I'm in," before she could say anything.  
"How about you, Trudy? Guts, guns, glory?" asks Kiera.  
"Okay, you got me. I'm in. You could ask Easy Pete for dynamite, see if Chet will provide supplies, and if Doc Mitchell has spare Stimpaks."

Once she has fetched the items, she heads to the gas station to let Ringo know that she and the town is ready. He nods his head as Sunny enters to announce that trouble has already arrived. Walking towards the saloon, she sees Cobb with a revolver and a couple of Powder Gangers with dynamite further down the road. Cobb starts running towards her while shooting and she pulls out her Weathered 10mm pistol and aims four shots at his head, the last shot blowing his brain to bits.

Then, Kiera pulls out the Mercenary's Grenade Launcher and blows up the Powder Gangers drawing near the saloon. She looks behind her to make sure that the residents are okay, thankfully, they are still standing because of the leather armors that Chet lent to the fight. Kiera uses the dynamite that Easy Pete gave to her to kill the remaining Powder Gangers.

The sun has almost finished setting when the fight ended, so Kiera heads up to Doc Mitchell's house to check on Dylan. Before she could get into the house, a securitron rolls up next to her.

"Well, howdy partner."  
"Hi."  
"The name's Victor."  
"You're the one who dug me out. Did you see or know where my attackers were heading to?"  
"Naw, I'm sorry. I just made sure the close was clear before I got you and the boy."  
"Ah okay, thanks for that."  
"See you later, alligator."

Kiera plops down on the bed that Dylan is laying on and she holds his hand. She brushes through his hair with her hand and slowly traces his stitching with her right pointer finger. A tear rolls down her cheek as she rubs the dog tag around her neck as well as the one around his.

"You're going to be okay, kiddo. I have one hell of a story to tell you when you wake up."


End file.
